Shave Den Disaster

Craig_From_Cincy · Post by **Craig_From_Cincy** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 10:44 pm

Well, I had just finished showering on Wednesday. I opened the shower curtain, and a big blast of steam escaped the shower. Then it happened. My display cases which house most of my antique razor and blades collection came crashing down. Both. Simultaneously.

The cases came down right on top of the towel bar, and ripped it out of the wall. Ditto for the TP holder below it. Huge divots of drywall came out, along with corresponding pieces of my Edwardian Paisley wallpaper.

I don't know what happened. I had the cases mounted with hardware that claimed to hold 50 pounds. I guess that the humidity form the repeated showers, hundreds of them over the past 3-4 years or so, gradually wore the drywall under the mounts down. I am really bummed. I can't even bring myself to take and post pictures of the mess.

I haven't decided what to do. I cleaned the mess up and set everything aside. The wood & glass cases are intact (thanks the soft landing provided courtesy of the towel rack & TP holder). My wife and I are in the midst of remodelling our house, taking it from a traditional Georgian style of decor to a "retro-modern" 50-60's style, with furniture designed by Eames, Mies van der Rohe and others. Maybe I will go with a whole new look. I don't know right now. I really digg my Den as it is (was), and I've been getting the best shaves of my life of late, but perhaps it's time for a change.

Ugh.

Cheers,

Craig

BlankTim · Post by **BlankTim** » Fri Aug 01, 2008 11:17 pm

Craig, I love that wallpaper.
It looks every bit a "mans room" as one could hope for.

You could go do some fun stuff in the new bathroom. Lots of blond woods offset by black as trim. Perhaps some Ivory/White/off-white patterned wallpaper. Sort of a Swedish/Mod look.
Add in some chrome hardware, and offset that with frosted glass fixtures and you'd have a good mish-mash which was popular during the Mod period.

On the other hand though... (sigh)
I'd have a tough time deciding as well I think.

Make sure you use green-wall this time around. It costs more but you won't have to worry about this happening again I think.

dmikel · Post by **dmikel** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:14 am

If you hang them again, be sure to screw them into a stud. If you do, the only way they're coming down is if a tornado hits your den.

fallingwickets · Post by **fallingwickets** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 12:28 am

Craig

Sorry to hear about the 'disaster' At the margin at least the cases survived.

Have a good weekend

Clive

southpaw · Post by **southpaw** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:51 am

Sorry to hear about the shave den disaster. I know you liked your den, and rightly so, but look at this as an opportunity to take something that was very good and make it even better.

Trumperman · Post by **Trumperman** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 8:13 am

Ouch! Looks like Mother Moisture got to your wall anchors. Going into a stud is the way to go. You may have to attach 2 cleats behind each case for better stability. Do you have an exhaust fan in your shave den? This will help keep the moisture level down. Let us know how you work this out. PM me if you need any help.

Regards,

Bill

iancevans · Post by **iancevans** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:50 am

A shave angel just lost her wings!

Trumperman wrote:Going into a stud is the way to go.

Yes. My father is a carpenter and sees this sort of thing all the time. Drywall hangers are garbage.

wayne06 · Post by **wayne06** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 11:56 am

Sorry about the mess Craig. Same thing happened to me, except lost most all of my Trumpers, Harris, Floris colognes and aftershaves. Starting all over again, very expensive.

Regards,

Wayne

spinyeel · Post by **spinyeel** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 1:32 pm

Drywall and wet area's are not a good combination.In Australia nearly all our's are lined with fibre-cement sheeting.A much better product.

woodsrider · Post by **woodsrider** » Sat Aug 02, 2008 7:40 pm

Sorry to hear about the mess, Craig. These types of things are never welcome distractions. I've had a couple lately, myself. Good luck with the repair/restoration work.

ScottB · Post by **ScottB** » Sun Aug 03, 2008 1:28 pm

OMG! That is awful!

What a beautiful collection. I dig the wallpaper as well. I hope that all of the antique pieces are ok.

Maybe you could use wonderboard or something similar for the rebuild.

Scott

asat00 · Post by **asat00** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:05 pm

Also, look for paint specifically made to withstand moisture. This is the type used to paint air vents in your home to keep mold from growing due to the moisture. It may help if you are unable to use a stud when hanging your paraphinalia, ahem, shaving gear.

John 5 · Post by **John 5** » Tue Aug 05, 2008 12:18 pm

Sorry to hear about your mess. If you can't mount to a stud, like Bill suggested, what has worked for me is the largest, most heavy duty butterfly-type anchor you can find. They take a little bi more work, since you have to drill a hole at least 3/4 of an inch to get the larger ones in, but they hold up quite well. I have some very heavy stuff in the bathroom mounted with the butterflies, and they have held up very well.

I view those weight ratings the same as I do fishing lines; just because you are using line rated '15 lbs test' does not mean that a little 5 pound jack won't break it. I'd get the largest anchor that won't interfere with the aesthetics of what you are mounting.

scottydoint · Post by **scottydoint** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 3:14 pm

Oh the Humanity!!!

DerBesucher · Post by **DerBesucher** » Tue Aug 12, 2008 4:39 pm

Craig,

I think you "had" a wonderful display and I'm sorry to hear of your mishap...

Are you by any chance going to sell any of you damaged goods???? (chuckle

) "Only kidding".

I hope you get it straightened out soon, it was a great looking setup...